well-worn paths
"Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years."
Charles Spurgeon
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
Joshua 1:8
Several years back, I had the privilege of spending a couple of days with Gerald Sittser as a part of a pastor’s group I was in. He is most well-known for his bookA Grace Disguised,whichtells the gut-wrenching story of losing his mother, wife, and daughter in a single, tragic accident.
Most of our time was framed around discipleship and formation, how to build resilient disciples amid our secular culture. But there was one moment when he mentioned his response in the middle of the accident that has come back to me recently.
We were in a discussion about the importance of memorizing God's Word and its power to rewire and heal our brains due to all the damage that comes from porn, excessive gaming, and the drivel in our social media feeds.
We talked about the role of scripture memory in the early church and some of the recent research on neural plasticity. Then, he shared about the power of building well-worn paths into God's presence through His Word hidden in our hearts and heads. This was a beautiful phrase that resonated deeply.
Well-worn paths to the presence of God are what we so desperately need.
But this is not some kind of luxury for those blessed with a good memory or with the luxury of time and space to live a life of quiet contemplation. This is essential for us all because…
What comes out of us when the pressure hits us reveals what’s truly in us.
Gerald talked about being in the back of the ambulance, his dying family around him, and the first instinct he had was to travel the path of the psalms he had hidden in his heart into the presence of God to deal with the shock and horror of what was happening around him. Those well-worn paths, carved into his heart in times of peace and normalcy, were a highway in the middle of the hell of loss.
They did not change his outer world, but they gave him a supernatural anchor in his inner one. The well-worn path stopped him from getting lost in the agony and chaos of loss and grief. The psalms helped orient him in a time of profound disorientation. We will all need well-worn paths for the days ahead.
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I believe that in the middle of a crisis, the last thing we need is to be scrambling spiritually. We need to prepare our hearts and minds in advance to travel the highway to the throne of grace to find mercy and help in our time of need.
In 1 Peter 1:13, the apostle wrote,"Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming."
There is no better way to cultivate an alert and sober mind than mediation on scripture and the truth it contains. Meditation may be the most potent yet neglected spiritual discipline of our time. We must recover this.
I remember Dallas Willard saying that he would not attend a church that didn’t have a serious commitment and emphasis on scripture memory.
Dallas would struggle to find a church in the modern world.
Jesus fought the devil with the Word.
Paul urged the renewal of the mind through the Word.
The desert fathers fought the eight great lies through the Word.
Gerald Sittser, in the back of an ambulance, found comfort in the Word.
What is our commitment to the Word?
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Under stress, all of us look for relief. Sometimes men numb with porn, an easy but deadly escapism that only enslaves. Some lean into sports, borrowing adrenaline from others' performances, and some build a path by binging on the latest show and letting a story from Hollywood writers influence their own. Yet, others build highways in their hearts, treading the pages of scripture to the throne of grace for the challenges they face ahead.
We need men of the Word again. We need a generation of men building well-worn paths now. Men who can handle the crushing pressure of life because they have prepared in advance. Men who have stored His Word in their hearts that they might not sin against Him. Men who, when pressed, bleed truth, hope, and light.
This is possible for us all.
I led a men’s group where each of us did a 12-week challenge to reframe our lives. One of the men, Titus, committed to memorizing an Epistle. He did just that. Titus is a school teacher, a good and godly man, but not a pastor or a priest. He just chose to take steps each day into the presence of God through His Word. Step by faithful step, he did it. He is now memorizing the New Testament.
After my Dad had a stroke and was recovering in the hospital, the first thing he did was to go through Romans 8 that he had memorized in his mind. This was the highway to recovery for him. A highway of hope about his future in the middle of uncertainty about the days ahead.
When I was a new believer, the man who discipled me helped me memorize the book of Ephesians to give me a vision of the Christian life. I cannot put into words the amount of revelation, strength, and vision I have gotten over the years by walking that path in my mind.
What comes out of us when the pressure hits us reveals what’s truly in us.
We need God's Word to come out of us. Not flashbacks from porn, sports statistics, or sarcastic cultural memes. We need the renewing and healing Word of God to flow from within, stored up in moments like these to bring sanity, perspective, and hope.
Let's commit to building deep paths in our hearts and minds to God. David called it the path of life. And where did he say that path lead? To God's presence, with its fullness of joy in the midst of this world's sorrow and heartache.
Why not take a few steps down the path today?
Why not commit to memorizing Romans 8, or the book of Ephesians, or whatever the Lord leads?
There are apps that can help.
Brothers who will join you.
A world that needs you.
I'll see you on the path, helping the tracks run deep.
Cheers.
Jon.
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Discussion Questions:
When pressure hits, what pathways do your thoughts naturally take, and what does that reveal about the inner structure of your mind?
If your first instinct in crisis is shaped by what’s been stored in your heart, what truth do you want waiting for you there?
How could daily meditation on Scripture reshape your neural and spiritual patterns toward resilience rather than reaction?
In what ways have you numbed yourself under stress, and how might Scripture memory become your alternative source of relief? What's one habit that you can implement to begin to see a change here?
Which chapter or passage of Scripture could become your highway to hope in the middle of future loss or pain? What can you do to start building it now?